U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday (May 2, 2026) he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was waiting ‌for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if ​Tehran misbehaves. A senior Iranian official said on Saturday (May 2, 2026) that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Mr. Trump ⁠would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear program for later.

When asked about Iran’s proposal before boarding a flight to Miami at West Palm Beach, Florida, Mr. Trump replied: “They told me about the concept of the ‌deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said on Thursday (April 2, 2026) without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran.

Gen. Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately,” said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson. Mr. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden administration.

The ouster, reported earlier by CBS News, is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Mr. Hegseth since he took office last year. Like many of those other firings, Pentagon officials are not offering a reason for George’s departure, which comes nearly five weeks into U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and with no clear timeline from President Donald Trump on when the war may end.

Mr. George is a graduate of West Point Military Academy and an infantry officer who served in the first Gulf War as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s top military aide from 2021 to 2022 during the Biden administration before taking on top leadership roles in the Army.

Mr. George made it through the initial round of firings under the Trump administration in February 2025, when Hegseth removed top military leaders, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the No. 2 leader at the Air Force. Trump also fired Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Since then, more than a dozen other top military generals and admirals have either retired early or been removed from their posts.

Among these departures was George’s deputy, Gen. James Mingus, who was in the post of vice chief of staff of the Army for less than two years when Trump suddenly nominated Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve for the position. Mr. LaNeve was then serving as Mr. Hegseth’s top military aide, having been plucked for that post from commanding the Eighth Army in South Korea after less than a year in the job.

Mr. LaNeve will be stepping in as acting Army chief of staff, according to a Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the move before it has been announced. It is a meteoric rise for an officer who was only a two-star general two years ago.

A spokesman for George could not be immediately reached for comment.

The shakeup comes as Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne division are heading to the West Asia along with thousands of Marines and other assets. The Trump administration has avoided questions about whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.

Iranian media said on Tuesday (March 31, 2026) airstrikes have put a desalination plant on Iran’s Qeshm island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz out of service, though the report did not specify when the attack took place.

Iran-Israel war: Follow LIVE updates on March 31, 2026

“One of the desalination plants on Qeshm Island was targeted… and is now completely out of service, as it is not possible to repair it in the short term,” the ISNA news agency reported, quoting Health Ministry official Mohsen Farhadi.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said a strike had taken place there on March 7, accusing the U.S. of a “blatant and desperate crime” launched from its military base in Bahrain.

Qeshm is the largest Iranian island in the Gulf, stretching for around 100 km across the Strait of Hormuz.

It has become a popular tourist destination in recent years for Iranians thanks to its rare UNESCO-listed rock formations and turquoise waters, but is also heavily militarised, analysts say.

There have been several attacks on desalination plants in the ongoing war, sparked by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Bahrain reported an Iranian strike on a facility on March 8, apparent retaliation for the U.S. hit on Qeshm the day before.

Kuwait reported an Iranian attack on a desalination and electricity plant on Monday (March 30, 2026), which Tehran blamed on Israel.

West Asia is among the driest regions in the world, with many countries dependent on desalination plants for domestic and industrial water supplies.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday (March 30, 2026) to “obliterate” Iran’s power infrastructure, oil wells and “possibly all desalinization plants.”

That would likely draw a tit-for-tat reaction from Tehran that would escalate the conflict dramatically.

Desalinated water provides 42% of drinking water in the United Arab Emirates, 70% in Saudi Arabia, 86% in Oman and 90% in Kuwait, according to a 2022 report from the French Institute of International Relations think tank.

Some analysts have warned that Gulf states would see an attack on their critical water infrastructure as a reason to enter the war directly against Iran.

They have so far remained on the sidelines of the conflict, sustaining damage from Iranian attacks while hosting U.S. bases used for operations against the Islamic republic.

A U.S. KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members, the U.S. military said Friday (March 13, 2026), adding that the incident was not caused by “hostile fire.”

The incident — which took place Thursday (March 12, 2026) and involved a second plane that landed safely — brings the number of US troops killed in operations against Iran to at least 13.

Also read: West Asia war updates on March 13, 2026

“All six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refuelling aircraft that went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for American forces in West Asia, said in a post on X.

An investigation was underway into the crash, the command said, adding that “the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

Iran’s military said in an earlier statement carried by state TV that an allied group in Iraq had downed the aircraft with a missile, killing all its crew.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a loose alliance of Iran-backed Iraqi factions, claimed to have downed a KC-135. They also said they had targeted another plane that escaped.

Since the start of the war in West Asia, the alliance has been claiming daily attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq and across the region, but it rarely names its targets.

The KC-135 is at least the fourth U.S. military aircraft lost during the war, after three F-15s were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait.

KC-135s, which have been in operation for more than 60 years, generally have a crew of three — a pilot, a co-pilot and a third who operates the boom used to refuel other aircraft, according to the U.S. Air Force.

But some KC-135 missions require a navigator, and the aircraft can carry up to 37 passengers, an Air Force factsheet said.

Early in the war — which began on February 28 — Kuwaiti forces mistakenly downed three American F-15E fighters, but all six crew members were able to eject, according to CENTCOM.

That incident occurred during combat, including “attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones,” the military command said at the time.

Watch: U.S. KC‑135 refuelling plane crashes in Iraq, fourth U.S. aircraft lost in Iran-Israel war